The legendary illustrator who was instrumental in realizing the visual aspect of the Star Wars universe has died. Ralph McQuarrie's amazing work shaped many of the classic characters, starships and alien landscapes we all know and love, and most importantly, remember. I fondly remember searching the internet for his artwork years ago when I first learned who he was. I sat and patiently perused image databases on my then dial-up connection looking at each piece, and always in awe. It was fascinating to see the origins of the iconic imagery we're used to watching, whether it's Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, or the numerous other classic films he was a part of. I have yet to come across concept art for any film that has the energy and life conveyed by McQuarrie's hand. He will be missed, but never forgotten as long as the universes he helped create live on in millions of homes around the world.

I think some of the recent MOCs that have come out based on his artwork and designs are a fitting tribute to such a creative person and shows just how important his artwork really was in the development of iconic science fiction films. Though I remember seeing his work long ago it has only been recently that I started looking at them again.

R.I.P. Ralph McQuarrie. Thank you for the cool, beautiful, inventive artwork that my brother and I would lay on our bellies and look at over and over and over (and over). Lucas (imho) MADE his career when he brought you on board.

Ralph McQuarrie designed the believably unbelievable landscapes, the heroic, odd, and intimidating characters, the imaginative vehicles, and the sleek, out-of-this-world starships for the most popular movie franchise of all time, helping us travel back to "a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...." Thank you Mr. McQuarrie for bringing your amazing vision to life and for sharing it with the world. May you rest in peace.

Just as Irvin brought edginess to Empire, Ralph brought us the Star Wars aesthetic - proof positive that Lucas wasn't solely responsible for the SW universe we all know and love. Encouraging in a way, because imprinted on all of us 'thirty - somethings' is that OT SW look and feel...and hopefully some of us will be writers on future SW projects!

As artists like these leave us one by one, I'm so thankful for the volumes of reference material they leave behind - making it easy to keep the OT essence very much alive.

Really bummed by this news. I've been working on McQuarrie-inspired LEGO MOCs since last year, and have been finally finishing them in 2012:

I'd seen Ralph McQuarrie at a few Comic-Cons, and now, I regret never thanking him in person for all the cool stuff he imagined and created, not just Star Wars hardware and characters, but Battlestar Galactica ships, Buck Rogers ships, etc.

WOW! Sparkart, those mocs are amazing! I had already seen the R2-D2 some days ago on Flickr. Cannot tell you how perfect that is! I had made some about 3 years ago that I posted to flickr. But they are much smaller and more humble than your creations. I would say your X-wing is "UCS" Scaled. I hope many more people get inspired to create Ralph McQuarrie's original designs. How cool would it be if Lego made official sets?!?